I hate snow. That statement, reader(s), is a total 360 from my usual state of mind. With the exception of when I need to go somewhere and the snow is making my commute (or outfit planning!) difficult, and now with this whole travel nightmare, I usually loooooove the snow. My birthday is January 2 (remember that!) and I’ve always wished for snow so I can go ice skating and then come home and play outside. And yes, I really do mean always, as in, even last year, when I turned 19. This year, I’ll be hoping for sun, sandy beaches, a nice steak and new friends to enjoy them with.

I spent four hours shoveling today. Because of the way the wind was blowing, the height of the snow ranged from around my ankles to mid-thigh (I’m about 5’4”, so mid-thigh is pretty high). My nose is rubbed raw from blowing it, my eyes are watery and gross, and my extremities were numb for hours. Plus, this whole shoveling and salting deal today totally ruined my manicure (I don’t actually care, I just figured I’d add that to my litany of complaints). I’m also very, very sore, which isn’t so great since I’m going to have to carry all my luggage myself in Argentina. Today wasn’t really a good day. I couldn’t help but think about how at 10 am, while I was bundling up to shovel, I should’ve been just getting out of the airport in Buenos Aires and looking for a bus or taxi to the hotel.

Snow

This is the view from outside my basement window. To give you an idea of how much snow that is, when I stand next to it from inside, it’s at about chest level. That’s a lot of snow. Granted, it’s a drift, but still. This is what I had to deal with allllll morning instead of being in sunny Argentina.

Still, I’m not TOO bummed out about this delay. At least I’m not the only one stuck here. Out of about 60 people in our group, 21 had made it to the hotel around mid-afternoon, when our professor emailed us saying that while latecomers would miss the city tour, the tango show would be rescheduled. At least I’ll still have a few days in Buenos Aires, if my flight takes off as planned. Plus, I’m going on a direct flight now with at least two other girls I know. I didn’t know anyone on my original flight, which had a two hour layover in Dallas. My nonstop night flight means I can sleep on the plane and I really don’t need to worry as much about my luggage getting lost, both of which are nice.

I take it back; I do like snow. From inside my toasty room, the view from my window is of a snowy yard with tiny paw prints from the neighborhood strays, and even the wind blowing the snow around (onto the sidewalks I worked hard to clear!) looks pretty. I just wish this blizzard had held off a few more days, or even just a few hours, so I could’ve gotten out of the city and made it to Argentina on time. With a little luck, in 24 hours I’ll be fast asleep on a plane en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina…